Who We Are

We are students and early career scholars and researchers (ECS/ECR) interested in life writing practice and scholarship. Our network is officially affiliated with the International Auto/Biography Association and dedicated to facilitating intercollegiate and international discourse and collaboration.

Our purpose is to promote the work of students and ECS/ECR in the field of auto/biography studies, situating ourselves as an integral part of the field, and joining critical conversations that not only shape auto/biography scholarship but the ways it is practiced. Going forward, we hope to expand our representation from locations beyond Europe, the U.S., Australia, and Canada.

We believe in working together to create and support communities, spaces and practices that foster collaboration across diverse fields and beyond academic institutions as well as creative and interdisciplinary methodologies. We believe in peer mentorship and support in all areas of academic life.

We believe in communal and collaborative organization and leadership. In running the SNS Network, we work as a collective. Our network is created to support one another in these (and later) stages of our careers, fostering a virtual community across locations and positions. And our spaces are not virtual alone. We also organize live academic and social events, such as graduate workshops, roundtables, and evening receptions, at and around IABA conferences.

The site is a hub of emerging scholars’ work — which includes creative practices, life writing scholarship, and writing about graduate school and early career life.

On the blog, you’ll find original content related to life writing authored by students and ECS/ECR in the SNS Network. Our interview series features conversations conducted by our editorial staff with authors and scholars of auto/biography. We also publish essays and book and event reviews by students and ECS/ECR on a range of life writing topics. Our “Crossing the Void” series offers autobiographical reflections from students and ECS/ECR about professional transitions–from (post)graduate study to alt-ac and academic careers–and the role life writing plays in the authors’ personal and professional lives. Our website also features links to external publications authored by students and ECS/ECR in our Network with the mentorship of SNS editorial staff.

We aim to post frequently and encourage conversations on the blog, as well as beyond. We hope that the dynamism and spontaneity of blogging will genuinely inspire posts about contemporary issues within life writing and new developments in the field. We envisage the blog as a space that publishes thoughtful academic writing relatively quickly, that encourages reactive posts that respond to what is happening in the world, and that engages with both scholarly and popular material.

We are always looking for students and ECS/ECR to contribute to our blog! For information on publishing essays or reviews, please visit our Submissions page.

Say Hello

Have individual questions or suggestions? Email us at iabasnsnetwork@gmail.com. If you’d like to get involved with any of the activities run by the SNS Network or if you have a great idea for a project that you think the network should be running, we’d love for you to get in touch with us.

Our community is lively and diverse and we share reading materials and announcements of opportunities and events via our Facebook and Twitter accounts, so follow us to be part of the conversation.

And in case you’re interested in learning about new academic publications and opportunities be sure to join the International Auto/Biography Association listserv.